On January 14, 2016, the construction of the $807 million
North Terminal Project was commemorated with an official ground breaking
ceremony held on the site of the new terminal.
This is a landmark moment as we begin construction to complete the
largest capital project in the Airport’s history. The new terminal is scheduled
to open October 1, 2018 for the City of New Orleans tricentennial.

Hunt-Gibbs-Boh-Metro (HGBM), a joint venture of Hunt
Construction Group, Gibbs Construction, Boh Bros. Construction Co., and Metro
Service Group, signed the construction contract December 21, 2015 to complete
the project. HGBM is serving as the construction manager at-risk, meaning they are
"at-risk” to complete the project for the guaranteed maximum price by October
1, 2018. Throughout construction, there will be an estimated 13,000 construction
jobs to benefit our community.

The new 760,500-square-foot terminal with 30 airline gates
is situated closer to the interstate, which is the main thoroughfare to the
Airport. Other Project components
include a 2,000 space parking garage, a ground transportation center, and
on-Airport roadway system. There will be
a consolidated screening checkpoint with room for 17 TSA screening lanes. There will also be an in-line baggage system
so passengers can just hand their checked bags to the airline agents where it
will seamlessly be screened and transferred to the aircraft. Upon activation and operation of the new
terminal, existing terminal’s east ticket lobby and Concourses A, B, and C will
be demolished to allow for redevelopment of the area for aviation uses. Concourse D will remain and be used for
charter flights. The other areas of the
terminal will be repurposed for administrative offices for the Airport and
other tenants such as the Transportation Security Administration.

There are several other third-party projects that are a part
of the overall capital program. An area
adjacent to the new terminal has been identified for a third party to construct
and operate an on-site hotel. The
airlines will be installing a new, state-of-the-art, $39 million hydrant
fueling system. This fueling system, constructed and funded directly by
airlines, will allow aircraft to be fueled by the terminal gates without the
use of fuel trucks. Flyover ramps at the Loyola and I-10 interchange will be
completed by the state to provide seamless entry and exit to the new terminal
from both the east and west. When you include the cost of these third-party
projects, the total capital program cost and investment in our community is
about $950 million.

The vision for this new terminal is to have operations of
over 14 million passengers annually, placing our Airport within the top 30
airports in the U.S. With an all-time
record of 10.6 million passengers served last year and a 5-year trend of strong
consistent growth, I believe we will see these passenger numbers within the
next 10 years. My team and I here at
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport are always striving to
provide our community with an Airport they can be proud of. And we affirm that commitment with each new
milestone we achieve.

Iftikhar
Ahmad, Director of Aviation for Louis Armstrong New Orleans International
Airport may be reached at airport@flymsy.com. Check your local listings for the
air time of the Armstrong International Airport 30 minute television program,
"Airport Alive” or view it on the airport website, www.flymsy.com, by clicking
on the "Airport Alive” link on the "News and Stats” page. You can now follow
the airport on facebook.com/MSYAirport and Twitter @NO_Airport. To find out how
to be a volunteer at the airport, click on "Ambassador” on the airport’s
website home